Dodgers reach deal with Kuroda

Minhee · Post #1 » by **Minhee** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 1:09 am

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/7567454

Ok so we did not get Santana, Bederd, or Haren. But at least we landed a 33 year old starting pitcher from Japan. Best of all we did not have to trade any of our assets (Kemp, Ethier, LaRoche, etc.). My only concern is that the guy is already 33 and I really do not know how good he is. Does anybody know anything about Kuroda? Seems like he is really close to Saito so if he is a starting pitching version of Saito it cannot be bad. 3 years $35 million for a $4 in the rotation is pretty expensive so he better be good.

Our starters look to be like this:

Penny
Lowe
Billingsley
Kuroda
Schdmit (hopefully if he can comeback? talk about terrible signing).

Hopefully Esteban Loaiza stays as far away from the starting rotation. He is going to be the Mark Hendrickson of the pitchers. Speaking of which, is Hendrickson finally off the team?

StrykerKB24 · Post #2 » by **StrykerKB24** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 4:22 pm

Great sign. This all but guarantees that we will not be trading any of our young talent. Have never seen Kuroda, but it looks likes this sign was pushed by Logan White and he always delivers. Will be a solid #3-4 starter. If Schmidt can come even close to pitching the way he used to we will have one of the best rotations.

This leaves 3B as our only questionable position and management has said they are willing to start the season with LaRoche and Nomar. I'm okay with that too.

Hendrickson was not offerred a contract making him a free agent.

WCDYNASTY · Post #3 » by **WCDYNASTY** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 7:22 pm

I read that scouts are comparing him Daisuke Matsuzaka . . . not bad. Hopefully he can pitch beyond the 6 innings Dice-K can hahaha.

themaster07 · Post #4 » by **themaster07** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 7:27 pm

From the press conference yesterday, Ned said that they've been scouting the guy for over than a year. Also, I'm hearing from various fans/critics that Kuroda's stuff is on the decline. Not only that, some have even mentioned that he'll give you 3 to 4 months and he'll disappear the rest of the way. I don't know how valid these people are but i hope he doesn't turnout like that. Kuroda will probably do well if you look at the past history of Japanese pitchers in their 1st season in the majors. Ishii, Matsuzaka, Nomo, Saito, Otsuka, Okijima, Hasegawa and Susaki have all done well their 1st season.

Minhee · Post #5 » by **Minhee** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 9:37 pm

Thats what concerns me about these Japanese or Asian pitchers the Dodgers keep signing. They always start out strong but once the league figures our their stuff, they start to decline. Since Kuroda is already 33 with plenty of miledge in his arms, I wouldn't be surprise if he already is declining.

StrykerKB24 · Post #6 » by **StrykerKB24** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 9:53 pm

Paying a pitcher on the decline $36 million would not surprise me after the Schmidt fiasco, but hopefully those rumors aren't true.

themaster07 · Post #7 » by **themaster07** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 12:34 am

Minhee wrote:Thats what concerns me about these Japanese or Asian pitchers the Dodgers keep signing. They always start out strong but once the league figures our their stuff, they start to decline. Since Kuroda is already 33 with plenty of miledge in his arms, I wouldn't be surprise if he already is declining.

I agree. They tend to do well their first season but as the season goes on, most of them start having bad outings. For instance, Ishii started off great for us (I believe he pitched a shut out is 1st start with us) but as season went on the guy started to get pulled out of the games quickly. It's funny because a buddy of mines said that it would've been much better if we invested our money in Prior.

CITYOFANGELSX3 · Post #8 » by **CITYOFANGELSX3** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 9:13 pm

Would anyone want prior? I know he's real injury prone but if he could be healthy, atleast around september he could be something in the playoffs for us

StrykerKB24 · Post #9 » by **StrykerKB24** » Wed Dec 19, 2007 6:40 pm

The evil empire has a nice article on Kuroda.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/hotstove07/columns/story?id=3158054

With the acquisition of Hiroki Kuroda, the Los Angeles Dodgers have purchased a gem. The 32-year-old right-hander is a real no-nonsense player with a top-notch track record.

"He's got a good fastball and three or four above-average pitches that he can throw in the zone," said Marty Brown, who managed Kuroda the past two seasons with the Hiroshima Carp.

Kuroda, who has a 3.69 career ERA and 103-89 record, did more to help his team win from 2002 to 2007 than any other pitcher in Japan. The only player who contributed as much to his team's success per season over that period was current Red Sox right-hander Daisuke Matsuzaka.

Post #10 » by **LLcoleJ** » Wed Dec 19, 2007 9:33 pm

I dont know much about the new pitcher. I would hope that the Dodgers have dont their home work.

I wish there was some way to get out from and or away from Schmidt. I hate him.. I hated him as a Giant and I normally give new Dodgers the benefit.... ( see Kent) but man do I hate this guy..

/rant

StrykerKB24 · Post #11 » by **StrykerKB24** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 12:01 am

Phil_2.0 wrote:I wish there was some way to get out from and or away from Schmidt. I hate him.. I hated him as a Giant and I normally give new Dodgers the benefit.... ( see Kent) but man do I hate this guy..

/rant

Don't hate him yet, but will if he can't be even at least a reliable #3-4 starter. For some reason I have hope that he will recover from his shoulder surgery and make it happen next year. Tired of the Kevin Brown's, Darren Dreifort's of the world...

Griff83 · Post #12 » by **Griff83** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 8:23 am

what do you Dodgers fans expect from this guy?

give me a stat line